La Vie Boheme
by Tina101
Summary: Mark's sister and brotherinlaw die, leaving him with an 8 year old. AU, Angel lives! Umm...yeah. R and R please!
1. Chapter 1

La Vie Bohemé 

**A/N: **Umm….HI! I guess I really don't have much to say except, the author's note at the end of this chapter is _very_ important, so please read it!

**Chapter 1:**

Mark Cohen walked up the stairs of his building with his ex-girlfriend, Maureen Johnson, and her partner, Joanne Jefferson. Maureen and Joanne were picking up something from his loft apartment. Mark's roommate, Roger Davis, was staying at his girlfriend, Mimi Marquez's apartment. Tom Collins, a.k.a, Collins was living two floors below Mark with his boyfriend, Angel Dummot-Schunard. When Mark, Maureen, and Joanne got to Mark's floor, there was a young woman in a suit standing outside his door.

"Mark Cohen?" she asked as soon as Mark got to the bottom of the landing leading up to his floor.

"Umm…yeah. May I help you?" he asked as he mounted the rest of the stairs.

"My name is Carla Sanchez. I'm your sister Cindy's attorney." She stopped and looked at Joanne and Maureen who were holding hands. "Is there somewhere more _private_ that we can go to talk? This is a private matter."

"Joanne and Maureen are my family, so I'd prefer that they'd stay. We can go inside my apartment so we're not standing out in the middle of the hallway. Not that there's anyone important here to overhear anything."

"Sure. That sounds good." Carla stepped aside so Mark could unlock the door. She slid the heavy metal door aside, and turned on the lights.

The main room was scattered with Mark's camera equipment, Roger's music stuff, and some of the clothes Mimi had left after spending the night.

"Sorry about the mess. Our friend stayed here for a few days, and well, we haven't had the chance to really clean up yet. I'm sure you understand," apologized Mark. Carla nodded weakly as she sat down lightly on the couch.

"Mr. Cohen-"

"Please, it's 'Mark'."

"Okay, Mark. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your sister, Cindy, was in a car crash today."

"Well, is she alright?"

"I'm afraid not. She and her husband Harry were killed upon impact." The color drained from Mark's face.

"Oh Mark," Maureen cooed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Joanne didn't mind the sign of affection just that once. She knew that Maureen's heart was in the right place.

"And, and the kids?" he stammered.

"They're fine. Cindy and Harry were actually on their way to pick them up from a friend's house. Now, here's the thing. In your sister's will, she specified that you would take care of Andie, her oldest and only daughter."

"No, I'm sorry, but no. It would be better if my parents took both Andie and Becky. I can't afford a child. Look around you Mrs. Sanchez! I'm a photographer, I barely make my rent every month, and I don't have power half the time. And in case you didn't notice when you came here, I live in _Alphabet City_! This is _not_ the best neighborhood to take care of a child! I'm sorry, I can't."

"Mark, I have already talked to your parents. They only have room for one child, Becky. On top of leaving you Andie, Cindy and Harry left you quite a large sum of money. Now, I understand if you don't want to leave this, ahem, neighborhood, but this money should help with the rent, bills, costs for Andie, etcetera, etcetera." Carla handed Mark a piece of paper. Joanne immediately took it, and began to read it over.

"Mark, your sister left you $250,000! It says so right here in the will. I didn't realize that she was so rich!" she exclaimed. Mark took the paper, and read it over. He couldn't believe it! He and Cindy weren't really close. Sure, they saw each other a few times a year, but as far as he was concerned, all his real family lived here in Alphabet City.

"Okay," Mark said slowly after several minutes of long, hard, thought. "I'll take Andie."

**A/N:** If you're a rent-head like me, please check this out: http/ www. fictionpress. com/ read. php? Storyid 2158367 just remember to remove the spaces, and REVIEW (both of them, you'll see!) Until later. Much love!

Tina101


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"I cannot believe that you're going to be taking care of an 8 year old!" Roger exclaimed with a laugh. Everyone was gathered in the loft around noon for lunch.

"Shut up!" Mark said sternly.

"I mean, come on, Mark. You can barely take care of yourself, let alone a child! What were you thinking? Where will she stay? Sure that money will help, but for how long? What about school? And clothes? She has a life too you know, and now she's being dumped into ours."

"Roger, she can have your room," Mimi said from her seat on the ground resting between his legs.

"Excuse me? Where will _I_ sleep then? Or have you already forgotten about your boyfriend?"

"No, I haven't forgotten about you. But we _have_ been talking about moving in together for a while now, and now's our chance. Come on Roger. Please?" Roger rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll move my stuff outta here today while Mark's going to pick up Andie."

"We're all going to help out Mark, don't worry about that," Angel said from where she was in the kitchen. She was trying to teach Maureen to cook, but it wasn't coming out so well.

"Thanks you guys."

At 4:30, Mark and Joanne left to get Andie. The only reason Joanne went was if there was any legal work needed to be done, and since Mark didn't know a thing about legal work, Joanne offered her assistance. They took the subway into the city, and walked to the child services center were Andie was. As soon as Mark walked into the building, Andie ran up to him, and threw her arms around his neck.

"Uncle Mark!" she exclaimed. Mark was slightly taken aback by the sign of affection. He knew that the only reason that Andie was treating him like this was because she needed a shoulder to cry on.

"Hi honey. Don't you worry, you're going to come and live with me now," he said as he gently stroked her back in an attempt to get her to stop crying.

"Really? I'm going to live with you? Grandma and Grandpa told me that it was only for a little while, and that I would really be staying with them. Is Becky coming too?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Your parents wanted her to stay with your Grandparents, but she can still visit on weekends." Andie's face fell. Joanne was immediately moved with pity.

"Who's that?" Andie asked, nodding towards Joanne.

"That's my friend, Joanne. She's a lawyer, so she's going to make sure that all the paperwork's filled out." Andie's eyes got big as she nodded.

"Oh, Maureen's girlfriend." Mark burst out laughing. He didn't realize that Andie knew about him and Maureen breaking up. Joanne blushed. This was embarrassing to her.

"Well, um, Mark, we should get the stuff filled out and go. Not that I'm in a rush or anything. Maureen's making dinner tonight, so I might end up at the Life Café."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Andie slid her hand into Mark's, and they made their way to the front desk. After nearly an hour of filling out paper work that Joanne insisted on reading, and rereading, the trio was ready to leave.

"Do we really get to ride on the subway?" Andie asked with a glitter in her eye. "Mommy and Daddy don't…didn't like the subway." The glitter was gone, as was the smile. They were replaced with painful shadows that Mark understood. He had, after all, just lost his sister.

"You bet we get to ride the subway sweetie, it's how we get around New York most of the time when we don't walk," Joanne said, trying to distract the heartbroken child.

"Don't you have cars for that?"

"We don't have cars. There's nowhere to park them, and it's easier to walk or take the subway. Plus, cars can expensive."

"Oh," Andie said simply.

Andie seemed shocked when she, Joanne, and Mark got to Avenue A. She looked around wide eyed, not knowing what to think.

"Is this really where you live?" she asked. Mark picked her up.

"Yep. We live in that building right there." He pointed to their building. "Along with Joanne, Maureen, Roger, Mimi, Angel, and Collins. We don't live in the same apartment though. You and I are going to live in the very top apartment."

"Cool! Can we go on the roof?"

"Of course!"

Mark and Andie left Joanne at the door to the apartment that she shared with Maureen on the second floor. The nice thing about their building was each floor had a single apartment, and there were 5 floors in the building, so no one else besides the eight friends lived there. When Mark and Andie got up to their apartment, Mark immediately began to show her around.

"This is the kitchen/dining room/family room area right here. This is also where I work," he said as he placed her suitcase on the couch. He took her hand, and led her to her room. "And this, this is your room. You're lucky, this apartment has two bathrooms, and so you have one to yourself. My room is next to yours; so if you need anything, just let me know. Does that sound good?" Andie nodded silently. "Do you want me to help you unpack?" Andie shrugged. She had been silent since they had arrived at the apartment building. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Mark asked as he sat down on the bed. Andie clambered up onto his lap.

"I miss my Mommy and my Daddy," she cried as she buried her face into her chest. Mark gently stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her down.

"I know I know sweetie. I'm here right now, I'm going to take care of you."

"Will I be able to see Becky again?" Becky was twelve, and thought that she was superman, and that she didn't need help from anyone. Andie adored her sister, but unfortunately, Becky didn't feel the same way.

"Of course. Just not as often as before. She's going to live with Grandma and Grandpa in New Jersey, but you'll still be able to see her. Plus, there's all your friends from school you can hang out with, and of course, yours truly." Andie giggled.

"Why would I want to spend time with you?" she asked. Mark could tell that she was trying to mimic her sister, but wasn't being very successful.

"Excuse me missy? Did I hear that right?" Mark began to tickle Andie, causing her to squeal, and roll onto the bed in fits of laughter.

"Stop! Stop please!" she gasped between laughs. After a few minutes, Mark finally stopped.

"Say we find some food in this dump, and start to get you unpacked?" Andie nodded as she followed her Uncle into the kitchen. He dug around in the refrigerator, and pulled out two cartons of Chinese food. "All I have for dinner is left-over Chinese food from two nights ago. Is that alright? I didn't have a chance to get to the grocery store today." He put both trays in the microwave, and pressed a button.

"That's okay."

Mark and Andie ate in silence. After they were done, Andie was exhausted, so she went to sleep early. Mark stayed up to nearly 2 AM working on his latest documentary about the residents of his apartment building…. who else? When he finally climbed into bed, he saw a small figure standing in the doorway.

"Uncle Mark?" Andie said in a small voice.

"What is it, Andie?" Mark asked.

"I had a bad dream about Mommy and Daddy. Can I sleep with you tonight?" she padded across the room, and stood at the edge of his bed. Mark slid over, and lifted up the covers.

"Sure, but just for tonight. Tomorrow I want you to meet my friend Angel. She's going to help you decorate your room, so you can sleep in there." Andie nodded sleepily. The second her head hit the pillow she was fast asleep. Mark kissed the top of her golden curls, and lay down next to her. He could do this. He could definitely do this.

**A/N:** Okay, yeah, me being the _amazing_ writer that I am, I have actually found a way to incorporate the song in which this story is based. The one, the only, the best up-beat song in _Rent_…_La Vie Bohemé_! Waits for cheering And I promise you, it won't be a song-fic chapter. The characters will _actually_ sing the song, I'm so excited, but it's going to be a later chapter. In another chapter or two, the story's going to jump ahead to 5 years later, just a warning! While you wait for the next chapter, please read and review! Much love! Oh, I'd like to have a lovely really random contest (I'm off cola until my audition in a week which sucks, so my mind's twisted). I'm famous (or is infamous a better word?) to leaving wacked-out reviews. Your job, leave the weirdest and yet most helpful review. I'll let you all know who the winner is! Good luck!

Tina101


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Mark woke up around 8 AM, and rolled over to find Andie still asleep. Somehow, her thumb had found its way into her mouth during the night. After kissing the top of her head, he grabbed his clothes, and changed in the bathroom. Then, he made himself a cup of coffee, and sat down on the steps on the fire escape.

"Good morning, Daddy," Roger said as he sat down next to his best friend. Mark rolled his eyes, and continued sipping his coffee. "How'd it go last night? I saw Joanne, and she said that your niece was adorable. Obviously, she doesn't look a thing like you then." Mark punched Roger playfully on the arm.

"It went good. She had a bad dream or something about her parents, so she crashed in my room for the night. I just can't believe that Cindy's gone," he replied.

"Well, you two haven't talked in ages, so why would it matter? I know she's your sister and everything, and you love her, so don't get all mushy on me, but why has she suddenly left you a child you almost never see? And what happened between the two of you?"  
"She left me Andie, because my parents don't have room for both Andie and Becky at their house, and I think that they need some space. Andie idolizes Becky, and Becky's about to turn 14, so she's become more and more independent and junk. As for what happened between Cindy and me don't you remember? She didn't like the idea of her "little brother" moving in the East Side of Manhattan into Alphabet City to live like a Bohemian. That's just the way she was. She didn't support _any_ of my decisions in life. She thought that I should go to a "nice Ivy-League school, get a diploma, and go into business" or something like that." Roger burst out laughing.

"You, a real job? Yeah, right. That's a good one!" Mark smacked him again.

"The day that you get a real job is the day that the world comes to an end!" Mimi said from the balcony below them. Roger covered his heart with his hand, and sighed dramatically.

"My own girlfriend is against me!" he exclaimed. Mimi rolled her eyes as she joined the two friends on Mark's balcony.

"Hey Mark, have you talked to your parents about funeral arrangements?" she asked him as she sat down lightly between Roger's legs.

"Yeah, I talked to them yesterday. We're meeting today. I guess I'll have to take Andie with me. She might want to go." As if on cue, Andie appeared in the doorway. "Hey sweetie. I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Andie shook her head, causing her curls to cascading down her back.

"Hey Andie," Mimi said in a kind voice. "I'm Mimi, and this is my boyfriend, Roger. We live in the apartment below you. It's nice to meet you." Andie shook Mimi's hand as she smiled at her adult-like gesture.

"It's very nice to meet you," she said in a quiet voice.

"Oh my God, Mark! She's so cute. She can stay with me and Roger while you go to meet with your parents."

"I don't know, Mimi. Maybe she should come. Andie, do you want to come with me to meet with Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Will Becky be there?" she asked.

"I don't think so. She'll probably be at their house." Andie shook her head.

"Do you want to stay with Mimi and Roger?" She shrugged.

"How about we stay at your apartment, and I can help you unpack, and decorate your room? Angel could come over and help. She's good at everything, so it might be nice to have her over. Does that sound like fun?" Andie nodded. Mark was thrilled that his friends were willing to help out so much. Maybe decorating her room would get Andie's mind off of the fact that her parents were dead; at least for a little while.

At twelve sharp, Angel arrived at Mark's apartment, in drag. Mark had taken it upon himself to explain to Andie about Angel and Collins, and how even though Angel was a guy, he dressed like a girl about 99 of the time. He also explained about how Joanne and Maureen were married in a way. He didn't like exposing such a young child to stuff like this, but he felt that he should.

"Hi, I'm Angel," Angel said when she came inside. She was wearing her famous black bob wig, with jeans and one of Collins' old shirts on. Normally, she was _much_ more stylish, but since she was going to be decorating, she figured she might as well wear some beat-up clothes. Andie waved.

"I'm Andie," she said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Andie. Here's a hint about your Uncle, he's married to his work. I bet he'd marry his camera if it was legal," Angel said. Andie giggled.

"I heard that!" Mark called from his room.

"Well, it's nothing new!" Mimi announced from the kitchen.

"Hola, Mimi-chica," Angel said as she gave her best friend a hug. "Should we get started?"

"Sure, why not," replied Mimi. "Andie's room is Roger's old one."

"Ahh, I bet you know that room quite well." Mimi blushed as she took her AZT. "How much unpacking did you get done last night, Andie?" Andie shrugged.

"Some, I guess. But I don't where to put everything."

"That's the beauty of it! You can put your stuff wherever you want in your new room!" exclaimed Angel. Andie immediately fell in love with Angel's bright personality. "Let's get going! Come on!" Andie took Angel's hand, and led her to her room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Mimi, Angel, and Andie were so caught up in their work that they didn't hear Mark come home several hours later. He simply stood in the doorway until Angel realized that they weren't alone.

"How'd it go?" she asked him. He shrugged.

"We got a lot done, but it was still really hard on my parents. Cindy and Harry had set up a trust-fund for both Becky and Andie that they can touch when they're 18, and I'll be getting child support from the government to help pay for everything. All of the funeral arrangement have been made too. It's going to be Saturday. Then, we get back to our lives the best that we can." Angel gave Mark a hug.

"Remember, we're here for you," she told him.

Mimi said from where she was sitting on Andie's bed, "Just not right now. I have a double shift tonight, so I have to go and get some rest." Mark smiled as Mimi gave both him and Andie a hug, and slipped out of the room. Angel looked at her watch, and gift from Collins on her past birthday.

"I should probably go too. Collins is going to be home from work soon, and he wanted to go out to eat or something."

"Don't forget that you said that you'd make me some curtains!" Andie announced.

"I didn't chica. I'll get on them tomorrow. Mark, your niece is a doll. Everyone's going to love her. We should all get together in a few weeks once things settle down."

"What? Oh, yeah. I guess I'll see you later Angel. Thank you so much for keeping an eye on Andie."

"Any time! Bye!" Angel waltzed out of the loft humming a song. Mark smiled, typical Angel behavior.

"I like them," Andie said once they were alone. She flopped down on her bed. Mark looked around. They trio had gotten a lot done. All of Andie's clothes here hanging up in her closet or folded neatly in her drawers. Her books, which had been delivered early that day while Mark was gone, were on her bookshelf. The room was about medium sized. The bed and the nightstand were on the far wall. Directly across from them was the dresser, while the bookshelf was on the wall adjacent to the bed. On the bed was a flowered coverlet that Mark had never seen before.

"Where did the bed spread come from?" Mark asked as he sat down next to his niece.

"Mimi had it in her closet. She said that her Mom made it for her when she was a little girl, and since she can't have any kids, she wanted me to have it. Angel's going to make some curtains that match it."

"That's good. Your room looks nice."

"Thank you. Uncle Mark, why can't Mimi have any kids? Is she sick? She doesn't seem like it." Mark sighed. He should have explained everything to Andie.

"Yes, Mimi is sick. Just like Roger, Angel, and Collins." He quickly added, "but don't worry, you can't catch it." When he saw her worried face.

"Are they going to get better? I saw Mimi take some medicine. Will that make her better?"

"No. The medicine is just keeping her healthy longer. There is no cure for their sickness I'm afraid." Andie looked at her lap, clearly a little upset.

"Oh." Mark gave her a hug.

"Don't worry about them. They're healthy right now, so you can enjoy being with them. I'm sure someone's going to find a cure soon, and they'll be back to normal." Mark didn't believe his own words, but knew that that was what Andie needed to hear at that moment.

Andie and Mark grew closer throughout that whole week. Mark didn't make her go to school until the following week, so she could get settled, and get used to her new life. On her first day back to school, they rode the subway into the city to get to her school. Andie grabbed Mark's hand, and led him to her classroom at the far end of the school.

"Come on!" she exclaimed as she pulled him through the masses of children. She stopped outside the door to her classroom to put her belongings away on the hooks lining the hallway. Mark slipped inside to talk to the teacher.

"You must be Andie's Uncle," a young, red headed women said when he approached her. "Alicia Murray, I'm your nieces teacher," she said as she extended her hand. Mark shook it.

"Mark Cohen."

"How's Andie doing?"

"She's doing pretty well. She's settled in, and she was pretty good at the funeral. This has been pretty hard on her, especially not living with her sister anymore. Andie adores Becky."

"I know. It'll do her some good to get away from her for a while. Now, Mr. Cohen-"

"Mark, please, I _hate_ formalities like that."

"Okay, Mark. Have you gone down to the office and made sure that your new address and phone number are in there?"  
"Yes ma'am. I did that last week. Umm…I'd like to tell you that I have a meeting this afternoon that my former-employer wouldn't let me reschedule, so my best friend's girlfriend will be picking Andie up from school today. It's just a one-time thing."

"Okay. If you tell me her name, I can let the office know."

"Mimi Marquez."

"What about Mimi?" Andie asked Mark from behind him.

"Mimi's going to pick you up from school today, because I have a meeting that I can't get out of. Is that alright?" Andie nodded excitedly. She loved Mimi and Angel.

"Will I get to go to her house?"

"No, I want you to go home, and don't you dare think about asking Mimi, she already knows that she has to take you straight home." A bell rang, warning students that class was going to start soon. Mark kissed the top of Andie's head.

At 3 o'clock sharp, Mimi walked into Andie's classroom. She was wearing a pair of tight-fitting blue jeans, a red halter-top, and a denim blazer.

"Mimi!" Andie exclaimed as she ran towards her friend. Mimi scooped the child up in a hug.

"Why don't you get your stuff so we can get home? I don't know about you, but I'm _starving_. We're going out to the Life Café for dinner when everyone's done with work."

"Okay." Andie skipped out to the hallway to retrieve her belongings.

"You must be Mimi Marquez. I'm Andie's teacher Alicia Murray." Mimi shook Alicia's hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm sure I'll see you again, I might pick up Andie if Mark's working later than he expected or something."

"Well, then I look forward to seeing you again. I must say Andie is a joy. She's so upbeat during such hard times. I'm sure Mark has something to do with that. I don't mean to be nosey, but does he have children of his own?"  
"Nope. Mark's been single for a few years now. My boyfriend, who's also his best friend, says that he's married to his work, or should marry that camera of his." Mrs. Murray laughed. Andie joined Mimi and Mrs. Murray. She had on a solid red hoodie with a picture of Winnie the Pooh on it, and a solid blue backpack was slung on her back. "Ready to go? I saw Angel a few hours ago, and she said that she was almost done with those curtains of yours." Andie's face lit up.

"Really? Let's go!" Mimi waved over her shoulder as she was pulled out of the classroom.

Andie spent the entire ride home telling Mimi about school. Mimi was thrilled that she loved school so much. Maybe if she had loved school so much as a child, she would have gone to college. Andie's voice snapped Mimi back to reality.

"What stop are we?" she asked as they pulled into a rundown station. Mimi looked at the signs outside.

"Next one, so get your stuff together. I want you to remember what station we get off at. It's called 'Alphabet City', okay?" Andie nodded as she repeated the station name.

"Alphabet City. Got it." When the train pulled into the station, Mimi grabbed Andie's hand, and led her up to the street above. The stop on the outskirts of Alphabet City was new, but it was used quite a bit. It was a lot cheaper than trying to catch a cab that would take you this far into Bohemia (and a lot easier), and it was better than walking from the nearest stop, which was almost a mile away.

Andie rushed up to her apartment to see if Angel had hung up her curtains in her room. She let out a squeal when she saw the lavender curtains with pink flowers along the bottom.

"They're so pretty!" she cried out as she jumped up and down. Mimi laughed. It didn't take much to float her boat.

"Okay missy. Now I suggest that you get all your homework done _before_ Mark gets home, so you can come with us to the Life Café," she said from the kitchen. "I'm sure you have some food or something too." Mimi opened the cabinet, and noticed a boatload of junk food. That meant that either Mark had gotten the job, and had managed to stop by before Andie got home, or Angel had a _really_ good day on the street (which was happening more and more often), and had provided the food. Mimi looked around for something with _some_ nutritional value, but soon settled on a bag of potato chips. She opened up the bag, and set it in the center of the large, metal table Mark and Roger still hadn't gotten rid of. Andie sat down, and began to do her work. Mimi watched in fascination. The girl's motivation to do well on her work got her thinking. Maybe she could back to school. Sure, she had talked about it a few years ago, but then she was a user. Now, she had been clean for almost two years. She might as well go to school, and get a real job. She might be able to quit her job at the CatScratch Club, and get away from those perverted lonely men every night. That was her real dream, and she knew that Roger didn't like her job all that much either.

**A/N:** This is the last chapter with Andie as a young child. I'm really excited for upcoming chapters. There's going to be a lot going on. You're going to get an outsider's opinion on Bohemia (this should be interesting) Until next time!

Tina101


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

_Five years later_

"Andie! Andie! Wait up!" Naomi Johansson called as she ran after her friend. Andie stopped in the middle of the hallway, and turned around. It was right before seventh period, the last period of the day. "Where should I meet you?" Naomi asked.

"I'll meet you outside your seventh period classroom when the bell rings," replied Andie. She was now 13, and in 8th grade at Martin Luther King Middle School.

"Sounds good. Are you parents; I mean is your Uncle picking us up?"

"We're going to take the subway."

"The subway? Are you sure it's safe enough?"

"Yeah. I've been riding the subway along this semester. The walk from the station isn't that far from my building; so don't worry about that either. My Uncle will probably out filming or something, so we'll have the apartment to ourselves for a little while."

"Sounds cool. I'll see you then." Naomi waved as she rushed off to her next class. Andie hoisted her saddlebag higher on her shoulder, and went to her next class, Spanish. Luck for her, Angel and Mimi had taught her Spanish when she was younger, so the class took little effort.

At 2:45 sharp, Andie met Naomi outside her classroom. The walked down the hall, arms linked, which was the latest thing, and out to the subway station. Some other students took the subway home too, but Andie wasn't friends with any of them.

"So, what should we do for our project?" Naomi asked when the two had gotten settled on the train.

"What are our choices?"

"It's not a matter of choices. We have to select an author, who published books before the 1960s, and write about how their books changed the world. Which author should we do? There's a list of about fifty or so." Andie took the list, and scanned over it quickly.

"I know who we can talk to about this. Collins."

"Who's Collins?"

"Collins is my Uncle's friend. He lives in my building two floors below us, and he's a college professor. He considers himself a radical too, like Maureen, my Uncle's ex-girlfriend. Even though he teaches computer age technology and stuff, he'll know who to do, and how they changed the world." Naomi slipped the list into her backpack.

"Sounds good." The two friends talked about school, and guys, and the latest fashions until they got to their stop.

"Well, looks like we're here," Andie said as she stood up. Naomi grabbed her backpack, and followed her friend out to the street above. When she got to the street, she looked around in awe. This was _definitely_ not a part of New York City she had been exposed to.

When Andie saw her friend's expression, she said, "Welcome, Naomi to Bohemia." She grabbed Naomi's hand, and pulled her to her building. "This is Alphabet City. We live on Avenue A, which is a lucky thing for us, or else we'd have a much longer walk to take." Andie's building was in a somewhat better condition, but it was nothing compared to the sky rise Naomi lived in. as they approached the building, Benny came out.

"Hey Andie," he said. "You coming to the Life with us tonight? We're celebrating Mimi graduating, and Roger considering getting a real job." Andie laughed.

"Dunno. I have a project to do." Suddenly remembering her manners, she said, "Benny, this is my friend Naomi Johansson. Naomi, this is my Uncle's friend and landlord, Benny." Benny shook Naomi's hand politely.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

"Likewise. I hope to see you tonight at the Life Café. It'll be a lot of fun."

"Then we should definitely go," she replied. Benny waved, and went to talk to someone that owed him the rent. "He's nice."

"Yeah, when you don't have to pay him rent. Luckily, we get a discount, because we're his friends or something like that." Andie led Naomi up to the top floor of her building to the loft.

"So who exactly lives here?" Naomi asked as she put her books down on the metal table (which they _still_ hadn't gotten rid of).

"Umm…Benny lives on the bottom floor. Joanne and Maureen above him. Then Collins and Angel above them, and Roger and Mimi below us," Andie replied as she opened up the cabinet to look for something to eat. When she saw all the food, she let out a squeal of delight.

"What? What is it?" Naomi asked as she jumped up.

"Angel was here, and she brought us some food!" She opened the refrigerator, and pulled out two bottles of Cola. She handed one to Naomi. "Here. Now, do you want to go to the Life tonight?" Naomi shrugged.

"It sounds like it's going to be fun." Naomi was about to say more, but the lights in the apartment went out. Andie swore under her breath as she went out on the fire escape to see if Benny was still outside.

"Hey Benny!" she called out. "Our power's out and we have a project to do!"

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. Is it just your apartment, or is it the whole building, because everyone has different generators."

Mimi said from the floor below, "We have power here chica if you want to come here to do your project. Meanwhile, Benny can try and fix your generator." Although Andie couldn't see Mimi's face, she knew that she was giving Benny an evil look. Benny threw his hands up in the air.

"Fine. I'll look into it. Only because I know that that girl won't get off my ass until I do." Andie smiled, as she went inside.

"So what's the plan?" asked Naomi.

"We're going down to Mimi's apartment. She has a computer that we can use." Naomi grabbed their bags as Andie wrote Mark a quick note.

_Power's out. Down at Mimi's working on our project. Be back in time to change to go to the Life. Love, Andie._ She taped the note to the door, and joined Naomi at Mimi's apartment.

"Hey chica," Mimi said as Andie sat down next to Naomi at the kitchen table. Mimi was busy cleaning up Roger's mess. "Can you believe the mess that he can leave behind? It's all his music equipment."

"That's like Uncle Mark's film stuff. Some days I come home, and it looks like his storage closet blew up. It's insane. You're going to the Life tonight right?"

"Yeah. Where are your manners girl? You never introduced me to your friend."

"Oh, sorry. Mimi, this is Naomi. Naomi, this is Mimi. She's dating my Uncle's old room mate."

"Nice to meet you," Naomi said. "So what is this 'Life Café'?"

"It's this café we hang out at all the time. The owner doesn't like us very much, because we move the tables around and just sit there some nights. But, if we stopped going, he'd loose over half of his business, so he has to be nice to us," replied Mimi. "Umm…Andie, maybe you should tell her about our friends before she gets there and sees Angel all dressed up, and Maureen being, well, umm, Maureen." Andie laughed.

"Okay, Naomi, I must warn you that our friends are a little out of the ordinary, but we love them to death. Please don't make any comments. Angel, Angel is a guy."

"A guy?"

"A drag queen is to be exact." Naomi looked like she didn't know what to make of this. "And she's dating Collins, the guy I told you about that can help us with our project. Don't be offended by Maureen. She's _very_ loud, and will voice her opinion in a second. She's also a lesbian. She's dating Joanne. I guess that's it, but Mimi's right, I should warn you about the interesting people you'll meet tonight." Naomi nodded.

"Thanks for the warning, I guess," she said. Mimi laughed as she gave Naomi a hug. Surprisingly, this didn't startle her. She really liked Mimi even though she had just met her.

"You'll get used to it in a heartbeat. Just don't get Maureen started on anything you can protest, or else you'll never be able to shut her up. Trust me." Naomi smiled. "Are you guys hungry or something?"

"I think we're fine right now. We have a project to work on. I bet you'd understand that Mimi." Mimi sat down across from Andie and Naomi.

"I just graduated from college a few weeks ago. That's part of what we're celebrating tonight. Also, my boyfriend might actually get a real job, but don't hold your breath. Girls, I'm sure that you're used to hearing this, but I'm a prime example. _Don't_ drop out of school."

"And don't do drugs!" Roger announced from the doorway. "Hey honey," he said as he gave Mimi a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey Andie." He gave Andie a hug. "And you must be Andie's friend."

"I'm Naomi."

"Naomi. I like that name. I'm Roger, the bum without a job…still."

"Roger!" Mimi yelled. Andie prayed that this wouldn't turn into one of the famous Roger/Mimi fights.

"I'm kidding! Gosh! I got the job!" Mimi squealed as she jumped up, and threw her arms around Roger's neck.

As soon as they began to kiss, Andie announced, "Yo, lovebirds! Get a room! You're going to scare my friend!" The couple immediately broke apart. Mimi's face was _bright_ red.

"You guys really need to get a life," Andie said as Mimi sat back down and Roger went to get a guitar.

"I'll be on the roof," he said when he returned with his old, beat up guitar. Mimi nodded, and went back to talking with the girls.

"We're not _that_ bad," she retorted. Andie snorted, and rolled her eyes. "We're better than Maureen and Joanne."  
"You mean Maureen."

Andie was about to continue when a beeper began to go off. Mimi looked at the one on her belt loop, and started swearing in Spanish under her breath.

"I cannot _believe_ that he took that damn thing off!" she announced as she grabbed the beeper, and a bottle of medicine off the counter, and disappeared up on the roof.

"What was that about?" asked Naomi. Andie contemplated as the whether or not she should tell her friend. Luckily, Mimi had heard her question.

"That was about AZT, our lifeline," she replied as she returned from the roof.

"How did you climb up to the roof and back so quickly?"  
"Your Uncle's home, and Roger's talking to him," replied Mimi. "AZT is what you take when you have AIDS, it keeps you healthy."

"You have AIDS?" asked Naomi. She knew what AIDS was, but she thought that it was for poor people in Africa or something. Not such nice people that lived so close to her.

"I was born with it. Roger wasn't. He got it about ten years ago. Collins and Angel have it. I don't know for sure how they got it. Roger got it from drugs. That's why he was saying 'Don't do drugs!' earlier. He knows from experience. He and his girlfriend at the time, April got it. April got depressed and killed herself. Nearly killed Roger to see her like that. That's why he wasn't all that fond of me at first; I was a blast from his past that he wasn't expecting."

"That's so sad that you have AIDS."

"It's nothing really. We just live life to the fullest. We can't have any kids though, or else they'd have it, or we'd die before long."

"Let's talk about something happier. How about you _finally_ getting a real job!" Andie announce. Mimi raised her glass of water, and took a long drink from it.

"Amen. I can't tell you how happy I am to finally be leaving. I think Roger's pretty happy about it too."

Andie asked, "What did you use to do?" Mimi sighed.

"I was an exotic dancer at the CatScratch club down the street. It paid most of the bills, and provided me with enough food, but I hated the job. Working all night for disgusting men. Roger didn't like all those men looking at 'his property' either. Now I'm going to work at a daycare center in the city."

"That's really cool."

Mimi, Andie, and Naomi talked for another two hours while Andie and Naomi did a lot of work on their project. Around 6:30, Mark finally came downstairs to get

them.

"Okay girls, we're leaving in half an hour, and knowing you Andie, you'll want to change your outfit at least five times," he said from where he was standing on the fire escape.

"Not true!" Andie announced as she shouldered her bag. "More like six."

"Yeah Mark. Get it straight," Mimi said with a smile, earning her a dirty look from Mark.

"We'll see you all there," he said.

**A/N:** long chapter, I know. While you wait for me to post again, check out _Off-Camera_ at www. Fictionpress. Com/ tina101. remove the spaces! Until next time!

Tina101


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

When Andie and Naomi got to Andie's room, they found a denim mini-skirt laid out on the bed. Andie jumped up and down excitedly.

"Angel makes me clothes sometimes when she gets really bored," she explained to Naomi. "She's the coolest."

"I can't wait to meet him, her, wait, how do I refer to Angel?"

"Her, when she's in drag. He, when he's not. You'll get used to it. She'll most likely be in drag tonight, so it's 'her,' and 'she'."

"Do I have to wear anything special out tonight?" Naomi began to look around Andie's room. It was a typical teenager's room. Clothes were spread out all over the floor. Andie liked to read, so Collins and Benny provided her with a surplus amount of books. Her bookshelf was covered in books, and then there were about five or six stacks of books up against the wall next to the bed. Pictures coated the walls, and were in picture frames all over the dresser. Some were cut-outs of the latest actor or actress, but most were of the Bohemians. Naomi found a lot of pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio, the actor who was taking the female population by storm since the release of his latest movie, _Titanic_. On the nightstand was a boom box, and a stack of CDs.

"You don't have to wear anything in particular, but if you _really_ want to, you can borrow something of mine," replied Andie from the deep, dark depths of her closet.

"I think I'm good."

"Hey, Naomi, what do you think of this top?" Andie held up a light pink halter top.

"It's a little cold for that don't you think?"

"I have a denim jacket to wear over it, don't worry. What do you think?"

"That's really cute. You'll have to let me borrow it one day."  
"Just add it to your list of clothes that you want to borrow."

"Please, take her clothes! All of them! She has too much!" Mark yelled from the kitchen. Andie went over to the door, and stuck her tongue out at him. "Ready?"

"Gimme a minute to change, God!" Andie closed the door, and went into the bathroom to change. Naomi picked up a cheap, black picture frame off the dresser. It showed a Hispanic man with a buzz cut giving Andie a hug outside on the street below. "That's Angel," Andie said from the bathroom. "Not in drag, I mean. It's rare to find a picture of him like that."

"Does he always dress in drag?"

"Most of the time. When we all go out together he does. Not when he goes down to meet Collins at the university where he works, or when he works during the night."

"What does Angel do?"

"He's a musician, but not your traditional musician. He plays the drums; I guess you could call them, on the street corners. He makes a good deal of money. Between everyone here, we have enough money to survive. We all chip in if someone needs money for something. Like in two weeks, Joanne and Maureen are adopting a 7 year old girl from an orphanage in the city, so we're chipping in to buy her a bike or something like that." Andie pulled out a denim blazer from her closet, and pulled it on. "Ready?" Naomi nodded. She was ready for one of the most interesting nights of her life.

The waiter sighed and rolled his eyes as he saw Mark and Andie enter the Life Café. A group of Bohemians was already moving around the tables that they weren't supposed to touch to make one long table next to the bar. Andie sat down lightly in a chair, and Naomi sat to her right.

"Hey Andie, move your chair back. The table you're at isn't in line with all the other tables," Roger said.

"_My_ table's fine-" started Andie.

"But all your tables are outta line," Roger finished with a bored tone before picking up Andie, chair and all, and moving her back about a foot. "There, now was that so hard?" he asked.

"Yes it was," Andie replied defiantly with a nod. Mimi laughed as she sat down on the other side of Andie.

"I like that outfit," she said.

"Thanks. Angel made me the skirt."

"It's really cute. So Naomi, are you spending the night at Andie's tonight."

"Yes ma'am."

"Don't say 'ma'am', it's too formal. It's Mimi. We're not formal people here. We're all on the same equality level."

"Except for Benny, who sits on a pedestal all of his own," Maureen commented darkly as she took a seat. She had on her black leather boots; with her matching pleather pants tucked into the boots, a red camouflage skintight t-shirt, and her white jacket. Her hair was wavy, and flowed down past her shoulders.

"Gee, thanks Maureen," replied Benny. Maureen shrugged.

"Anytime."

The normal waiter that the Bohemians came around to get their orders. By now, he knew everyone by name, and what they usually ordered. He only double-checked in case someone changed their mind.

"Hey Andie, what can I get your friend here?" he asked.

"Order whatever you like Naomi," Andie told her friend. Naomi scanned the menu. She felt bad that Mark was going to end up paying for her meal.

"What are you ordering?"

"Cheeseburger, fries, and a soda."

"That sounds good. I'll have the same thing. Diet Coke please, with no ice."

"Cheeseburger, fries, Diet Coke, hold the ice," the waiter repeated as he jotted it down on his pad of paper. "Okay, that should be out shortly. Listen, we have a new manager tonight, so make sure you give him the proper welcome," he said with a wink before leaving.

"What was that about?" Collins asked as he sat down on the other side of Naomi. Angel sat down next to Mimi, and began to chat excitedly with her in Spanish.

"New manager, Chris wants us to give him a proper Bohemian welcome before we leave tonight," explained Mark. Chris was the waiter that they had come to know so well.

"Oh, Collins, this is my friend Naomi. We were wondering if you could help us with our English project tomorrow or something. We need to pick an author whose writing changed their time period or something like that. We have a list of about twenty or thirty authors, but we don't know which one to use," said Andie.

"Hey Naomi. Well, show me the list tomorrow or something and I can help you. Sorry we're late; Angel was looking for something for _two hours_." Angel shot Collins a dirty look that still said, "I love you." It's amazing how much the couple is in love.

"Are we going to welcome this new manager, or just sit here all night?" Maureen demanded as she stood up.

"We also need to welcome our newest Bohemian, Naomi," Mark added as he got up on the table. Naomi turned about five shades of red.

"Aren't you embarrassed?" she asked Andie, who shook her head and shrugged.

"I'm used to it."

"Dearly beloved," Mark started. Andie knew where this was going. Roger had written a song, _La Vie Bohemé_ for Maureen's last show, which everyone, but Andie been able to sing. That didn't matter; she knew all the words to the song…much to her Uncle's dismay. "We gather here to celebrate the newest member of our Bohemian community, Naomi Johansson."

"May we corrupt her mind just like we've done to Andie!" Maureen shouted. Everyone cheered. Mark rolled his eyes.

"In that little town of Bethlehem, we raise our glass." Maureen climbed up onto the table, and stood next to Mark.

'Oh God,' thought Andie. 'She wouldn't? Would she….of course she would.' Everyone else seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"You _bet_ your ass to…la vie bohemé!" Maureen mooned everyone. Naomi looked _really_ embarrassed now.

"La vie bohemé!" the Bohemians sang in unison. "La vie bohemé."

"To days of inspiration, playin' hooky, makin' somethin' outta nothin', the need to express to communicate. To goin' against the grain, goin' insane, goin' mad. To lovin' tension, no pension, to more than one dimension, to starving for attention, hating convention, not to mention of course, hating dear old mom and dad," Mark sang as he walked across the table.

The new manager came out looking appalled at the sight before him. The rest of the Bohemians kept up a chorus of "la vie bohemé" as Mark continued singing.

"What's going on here?" the manager, Jonathan demanded as he grabbed Chris' arm.

"Oh, what? _That_? That's just them being themselves. They come here all the time." Jonathan opened his mouth. "Can't kick them out though. If you did, you'd loose the majority of your profits, and go broke."

"But what about the rest of my customers? What about them? Aren't they thinking about someone other than themselves?"

"You see, that's just the thing. There's no one else here. Look around, it's all the Bohemians." Jonathan looked around. It was true. It was only the Bohemians in the café.

Mimi and Angel stood up on the table to do their little bit. Without warning, Angel grabbed Andie, and pulled her up onto the table by her.

"To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries, to yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese. To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo. To huevos, rancheros, and Maya Angelou," they sang. Angle spun Andie around several times, before helping her back into her seat. Luckily, Andie had pulled on a pair of shorts under her skirt that night, but how she had managed to find a pair of shorts shorter than her skirt was beyond Mark.

"Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion. Creation, vacation-" sang Maureen and Collins.

Mark shrugged as he stood up and said, "Mucho masturbation." Everyone cheered and laughed.

Jonathan looked like he couldn't take it anymore. When the song and dance number was finally over, he came over to the table to introduce himself. Everyone was talking about Maureen mooning everyone.

"What?" she demanded. "Come _on_ pookie! I can't believe you! I wanted to get it out of my system!"

"What happens when we have Julia in a few weeks? Will you still be doing stuff like that? What kind of example will you setting? You lay off it for a while when Andie was younger, and thank God she didn't turn out a thing like you, and now I need you to lay off that kind of stuff again." Maureen rolled her eyes.

"_That's_ why I had to get it out of my system! I knew that there was no way in hell you'd let me do something like that again for a while!" Jonathan cleared his throat, and all the Bohemians looked up. "You must be the new manager," Maureen said darkly. She already didn't like him.

"Umm…yes, I'm Jonathan McPhearson."

"Well Jonathan, let me tell you a little bit about ourselves," Maureen said. Joanne looked like she was about to die. "We are your best customers. If you kick us out, you'll loose all your business so fast, you won't have time to quit your job. I saw you giving us dirty looks from over by the kitchen. Oh, and in case you didn't know this, the owner of this fine café is sitting right here." Benny blushed. He had bought the Life Café about three years ago, and had made it an even more of a hotspot for Bohemians.

"Oh, umm…Mr. Coffin. How are you tonight? Sorry to bother you? Is your food alright?" Completely embarrassed beyond belief, Jonathan rushed away from the table. The second he was gone, everyone burst out laughing.

"Go Maureen!" Andie yelled as she clapped her hands. Maureen stood up, and took several dramatic bows.

After a few more minutes, Collins got up to go to the bathroom. He took off his heavy leather coat, and draped it on the back of his chair.

"Naomi!" Maureen called. "Naomi!" Naomi looked up. "Reach into Collins' coat pocket. There should be a pack of cigarettes. Toss them over here." Naomi looked reluctant to follow Maureen's orders.

"Don't drag Naomi into your sick plots, Maureen," Andie said as she stood up, and pulled the cigarettes out of Collin's pocket. Wordlessly, she tossed them over to Maureen, who slipped them into her own pocket.

"What's she doing?" Naomi asked.

"Taking Collins' cigarettes so he'll stop smoking as far as you know you didn't even know he had them." Naomi laughed.

"Hey Andie. Wanna taste?" Angel asked, holding up her glass of beer. Naomi was shocked as Mark simply watched his niece stand up, and take a sip of beer. "What do you think?"

"I like that other kind better. What you had last week," she replied.

"Could you get your skirt any shorter?" Collins asked as he sat back down. Andie looked at her skirt.

"Well, my shorts are about an inch shorter than this, so if I really tried to roll up the skirt." She paused to roll up her skirt. "Ha! I can see!" She spun around several times with her arms above her head. This was _definitely_ a side of Andie Naomi had never seen before. at school, she was really quiet, and kept to herself and her books.

"God, Andie! Sit down!" Mark announced. Andie sat down in her seat. "Those guys are checking you out." All the girls laughed.

"Oh! Are they cute?" Andie looked over her shoulder. She had seen the guys Mark was talking about several times before at the Life. "I've seen them before. They're pretty nice."

"They went to our school last year genius!" Naomi commented. Andie stuck her tongue out at her.

Collins reached into his coat pocket, but when he didn't feel anything, he began to curse under his breath.

"What's wrong baby?" Angel asked.

"My cigarettes are gone."

"Did you leave them at home?"

"No, I had one on the way here, and now they're-" Collins stopped; he had an idea where they were. "Andie, would you happen to know where my cigarettes are?" Andie faked to be shocked.

"Collins! What in the world would I want with your _dirty_, _disgusting_ cigarettes? I can't even smoke them, so taking them would be pointless. I'm shocked that you would think that I would have something to do with this. What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the past _five times_ they've disappeared, they've ended up with you. Your purse twice, your jacket pocket twice, and in your backpack once."

"I am _so_ glad that I had to get something out of my backpack that night, and found them, or else I would have gotten suspended for bringing them to school." Andie shot Maureen a glance that said, "You're lucky that I didn't get caught." Collins saw that glance, and started grilling Maureen. She sighed, and produced the carton.

"You said that you'd cut back on them, Collins! Since you weren't doing a very good job at doing that, I thought that I'd help you out a little," she explained as she tossed the cigarettes clear across the table to him.

After another three and a half hours of talking, Roger looked at his watch, and realized that it was close to 11 PM.

"say we give our new friend Jonathan a break, and let the Life close close to on time today?" he suggested.

"Aww…that's no fun," Mimi whined.

"We can go back to our place or something if you want," Mark said as he stood up, and got his coat on.

"No way. No offence, but Naomi and I have a project to work on," Andie said. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Okay, you and Naomi can go back to our place, and we can all go trash Benny's house." The Bohemians let out a cheer.

"Nope. Sorry guys. My apartment's still a mess. Alison keeps bringing me my junk while I'm at work, and dumps it in big piles."

"At least you're getting your stuff back," Collins said. Benny shrugged. That was true. He and Alison were filing for divorce, but it was pretty messy at the moment.

"We can all go to our house, right honey?" Mimi said. Roger didn't mind…for once. Normally he made up some excuse for everyone to go to someone else's house. Andie and Naomi pulled on their jackets, and followed the group out into the street.

Out in the street, Angel and Mimi linked arms with Andie and Naomi, and began to skip down the street singing _La Vie Bohemé_ at the top of their lungs. Even though Naomi didn't know all the words, she sang what she knew. They had no cares in the world, and didn't care if they woke anyone up (which they didn't, because no one expected to get much sleep once they moved anywhere close to Alphabet City).

"Andie! I _love_ your family!" Naomi announced when they were done singing. "You don't have a care in the world! With my family, it's always country clubs, big fancy parties, and having a public image."

"Eww…sounds like your family sucks," Maureen said boldly, earning her a whack from both Joanne and Collins at the same time. "What? What'd I say?" Naomi laughed.

"No, it's cool. I think I was born into the wrong family anyway. I'm leaving the second I'm 18."

"You're always welcome on Avenue A sweetie," said Joanne. "Between the eight of us, you'll be able to find a place to stay."

"Thanks."

"Night chica!" Angel and Mimi called as Naomi and Andie went up to their apartment.

"Night!" she replied. She flipped on the lights in the apartment, and she and Naomi sat down to actually get some work done.

**A/N:** Next chapter of _Off-Camera_ is up just for those who are my new best friends and reading it (it's my baby!). Anyway, please read and review! I'll update soon. Next chapter will have _a lot_ of drama. Only 8 more chapters of _Off-Camera_, and about 5 more chapters (maybe less) for this story. Just to put that out there. Much love!

Tina101


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Naomi was at Andie's as often as possible. One weekend though, her parents insisted that she go with them to a party in Washington, D.C., leaving Andie with the Bohemians all weekend. It was a Saturday evening when everything started. Joanne was going up to Mark and Andie's apartment to pick up some of Andie's old clothes for Julie, who was arriving in two days. When they got up to the loft, there was a familiar figure standing at the doorway.

"Becky?" Andie asked. The figure turned around. It was Becky. Andie hadn't seen her sister in about four years. She tried to keep in touch with her, but Becky didn't want anything to do with her. and now, now here she was, standing on her doorstep. She knew that she wanted something. Especially when she threw her arms around her in what would appear to be a sisterly hug, except it held no real emotion.

"Andrea! Oh, I've missed you so much! We have so much to catch up on! I have great news. You have a family again!" Becky exclaimed. Andie couldn't believe it! She had a family. "Oh, hey Uncle Mark. How are you?"

"First of all, it's 'Andie', _not_ 'Andrea'. Secondly, I have no clue what you're talking about. I _have_ a family, and you're not part of it," Andie said firmly before Mark could answer Becky's question.

"What is your problem _Andie_? Is that anyway to treat your sister?" Andie laughed bitterly.

"My _sister_? You have got to be kidding me! You show up out of the blue, after four years, four years in which I tried to contact you, but you didn't want anything to do with me, and you expect me to call you my sister? This has got to be a joke. If you just wanted to stop by for a friendly chat, you better go." Mark couldn't believe how Andie was acting, but she did have a point.

"So um, Becky, what brings you to our lovely community?" he asked, hoping to ease the tensions.

"Well, I'll be 18 in a few weeks, making me a legal adult. Now, Grandma and Grandpa told me that my parents wanted me to raise Andie if anything should happen to them, and was too young at the time. Well, now I'm old enough, so I decided to bring by the adoption papers, so Andie can come and live with me." Becky pulled out a packet of papers to hand to Mark, but Joanne grabbed them first. "Umm…excuse me. And you are?"

"Joanne Jefferson, I'm Mark's lawyer."

"Lawyer?" there was a hint of fear in Becky's voice.

"Yeah, his lawyer. I'll look over these papers before Mark does to make sure everything's clear, and _then_ he can decide if he wants to hand over custody to you."

"Okay, great. I'm sure you have my number, I still live with Grandma and Grandpa. Give me a call, and tell me when I can pick up Andie. Bye!" Becky waved cheerfully as she left.

"Can you believe her? just showing up out of the blue, and assuming that you'll give me up without any thought! I can't believe her!" Andie exclaimed the second the trio got inside the apartment. "You're not going to make me leave, are you?" Andie's face was filled with fear.

"I don't know Andie. I can't give you much here. You'd have a better chance of getting into a good college and everything if you go with Becky."

"I can get into a good college now! Something's not right."

"Something's not right about what?" Maureen asked from the doorway. Joanne quickly filled her partner in about the events that had just happened. Maureen immediately began cursing loudly.

"You're not going to let her go…right Mark? At least give pookie a chance to look over the papers."

"Yeah, I want to take a look at those papers too. I have a bad feeling about this too. Becky made it sound like I had already agreed to her proposition."

Joanne sat down on one of the chairs, and began flipping through the papers. Mark pulled up a chair next to Joanne, and they began to talk in low voices. Maureen sat down next to Andie on the couch, and Andie rested her head on her shoulder. She was exhausted for some reason that she didn't know. Even though it was only 9:30, she promptly fell asleep.

"Mark, do you want me to get Andie changed for bed? She's completely out for the night," Maureen asked. Mark looked up.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure. She has a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt on her bed," he replied before going back to his work. Maureen gently woke Andie up, and led her off to her room.

"Do you think that's wise," Joanne asked. "Letting a lesbian, especially one like Maureen get your teenage niece changed for bed." Mark looked at Joanne, and shrugged.

"Maureen's been changing lately. I think Andie's been good for her. She brings her back down to Earth and reality. She wouldn't do anything…would she?"

"Of course not. She's not like that. You're right; Maureen's heart is in the right place."

Maureen found a pair of old pink shorts, and one of Roger's old band t-shirts on Andie's bed. she pulled off Andie's shirt, and pulled on the t-shirt before removing her bra. Andie slumped over. She was out. All the long nights at the Life Café had finally caught up with her. then, Maureen pulled off Andie's jeans, and pulled on the shorts. She gently laid Andie back in her bed, and wrapped the blankets around her. Before she stood up, she gave Andie a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Don't worry chica," she whispered. She had just started calling Andie by her nickname. "Mark won't let you go. Joanne and I need you to help us raise our daughter." Then, she stood up, turned off the light, and closed the door quietly behind her.

"Is she asleep?" Joanne asked. Maureen nodded as she sat back down on the couch, and pulled out one of Andie's teen magazines that she left lying around the loft. Mark was digging through the refrigerator for something to drink.

"You want a beer, Maureen?" he asked, still in the refrigerator.

"Sure, why not?" replied Maureen.

"Hey Mark, you get child support for taking care of Andie, right?" Joanne asked. Mark came back into the room with two bottles of beer, and a bottle of cola in his hand.

"Yeah. Why? I know I'll loose it if I hand over Andie, but I don't use a penny of the money. Whatever money I don't use, I put in a savings account for her. it's not a lot, but it'll help in college."

"Yeah, I know. It says that any money in that account, man, her lawyer must have looked in to you to find this out. Anyway, any money in that account must be handed over to the, wait, this can't be right. I'm glad we looked this over."

"What? What is it pookie?" Maureen asked as she closed the magazine, and crawled across the couch to see what Joanne was talking about.

"Any money in that account, and fifty percent of any money in a trust-fund set up by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Silversmith must be handed over to the new caregiver of Miss Andrea Silversmith. Miss Rebecca Smith."

"What would Rebecca need with that kind of money? She shouldn't even touch that money anyway! That's for Andie's education!" exclaimed Mark.

"Calm down. I'll make a call right now, and have someone down at the office look into Becky. Maybe she's keeping something from us."

"You think?" Maureen replied sarcastically as she took a sip of beer, and went back to her reading material.

Joanne rolled her eyes as she picked up Mark's phone, and began to call someone down at the office.

"Yeah, hello? Steve, Joanne. Yes, yes, I know it's late, but this is important. I need you to look into someone for me. I have a client of mine who's been taking care of his niece for the past five years. Now, the niece's sister has showed up basically demanding custody of her little sister. Here's the thing, in the terms of agreement for this adoption, it says that all of the left-over child support money, which has been put away in a savings account for college, and fifty percent of the money in the niece's trust-fund, set up by the parents before their death, is to go to the sister too. I need you to look into Rebecca Silversmith, and her grandparents I guess." Joanne covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "Mark, what are your parent's names?"  
"Cynthia and Jacob Cohen," Mark replied.

"Okay, the grandparent's names are Cynthia and Jacob Cohen. This is top priority. I'll be stopping by around noon tomorrow to pick up whatever you have, and helping you if you get nothing down. Just know that if you get nothing done, I'll sick Maureen on you." Joanne chuckled. Maureen looked up from her reading, and shot her a dirty look. Joanne stuck out her tongue, and continued talking for about five minutes with Steve. "Okay. Remember, top priority. You're the best! Thanks! I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

Joanne hung up the phone, and went back to looking over the papers. The rest of the agreements were typical. Visitation rights and things like that.

"It doesn't matter to me Joanne. I'm not letting Andie go," Mark said.

"You're not?" asked Joanne. Mark shook his head.

"No. She's the world to me, and I have a feeling that Becky needs the money, that's why she showed up. Thanks though."

"No problem. We should probably look into why anyway. I'm curious. Becky wanted nothing to do with Andie before, and now she shows up, and acts like they're long-lost best friends. Something's not right." Maureen made a face.

"You think Sherlock?" she commented without looking up from her magazine. Mark shot her a dirty look. "Hey! I'm just saying, anyone could have told you that!" Joanne rolled her eyes, and went back to reading the paperwork while Mark and Maureen bickered for nearly ten minutes.

"Alright you guys!" she finally yelled. "You're going to wake Andie, and at the rate you're going, Mimi, Roger, Collins, Angel, _and_ Benny!"

"I think your yelling took care of that, pookie."

The next afternoon, Joanne rushed home from work early with a packet of papers from her office that Steve had gotten.

"Mark! Mark you home?" she called as she knocked on the sliding door to the loft. Mark opened the door, looking worried.

"What, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I have the information on your niece, and your parents. May I come in?" Mark stepped aside, and let Joanne enter the loft. "You'd better sit down for this." Slowly, Mark sat down on the couch. "Okay, ready? The only reason Becky wants Andie is to pay for the three times your parents have filed for bankruptcy. That won't hold up in court though, if they sue you for not handing over custody. This is why I dug even deeper. Okay, ready? Becky has been kicked out of four schools in five years."

"What? For what?"

"I'm getting there. Fighting in three of them, and possible gang relations in the last one. Now, she's at some expensive private school in Jersey. Your parents have done a good job trying to cover this one up. _This_ will stand up in court. The second I bring this up, the judge won't even consider visitation rights if it's a really good judge." Mark stood up, and began to pace.

"I can't believe this! Becky fighting, and in a gang! This is insane! She was always a sweet child. I know this sounds mean, but Andie was always the rebel growing up, if anything, if either one of them even _considered _ doing something like this, I would have thought it to be Andie, but she's changed now. I wasn't going to give Andie up before, unless there was one hell of a reason, and now, I won't give her up to them for anything. I'm going to call Becky right now, and tell her that if she comes by here again, we'll sue for harassment."

"Do you really think that wise Mark?"

"If I just call her, and tell her no, she'll keep calling, and stopping by, asking why she can't have Andie. What should I tell her if not that?"

"How about you don't want her growing up in the hazardous environment that she would provide?" Mark gave Joanne a friendly hug.

"That's it! You're a genius Joanne!" he picked up the phone, and dialed his parents' phone number. "Yeah, hello Becky? It's Uncle Mark."

"Oh, hey Uncle Mark! Made a decision that quickly. When can I be by to pick up Andie's stuff? You'll have to give me a few days to get her room ready of course." She chuckled. "She'll make so many _wonderful_ friends once we transfer schools. She needs some structure in her life. Anyway, when can I-"

"Becky! Becky stop! I'm not signing over custody. Andie has a structured environment here, something you can't provide her with, seeing as you can't stay at the same school for a whole school year."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember my friend Joanne?"

"The lawyer? Yeah, what about her?"  
"Well, she did a background check on you-"

"She what?"

"Tell her that the lawyer would have done it anyway, so it really doesn't matter what she thinks about it," Joanne said quietly. Mark nodded, and told Becky what Joanne had told him.

"So, then let the judge do his job! I can't believe you! I always liked you! Andie means the _world _to me."

"Only because you can get a hold of all her money. It's not happening Becky. I'm sorry, I always liked you too." Mark hung up the phone, and sighed. "I can't believe I just did that." Joanne gave him a comforting hug.

"Don't worry about it. You had the best interest of Andie in mind."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

That afternoon, Becky came back from shopping with Mimi, dying to find out if she was moving or not. When Mark told her that she was staying right where she was, she began to dance wildly all over the loft. Mark pulled out his camera, and taped his niece in one of her wild moods, something he hadn't seen in a while.

**A/N:** Another long chapter, I know. Here's some update stuff. About three more chapters here pauses until groaning stops. BIG Angel moment in the chapter after the next one. For _Off-Camera_ (for those who haven't checked it out, I talk about in chapters 1 and 5 of this story, it's a behind-the-scenes on _Rent_ deal, and I'm _very_ proud of it!) There are about 7 or 8 more chapters left (I have them all planned out, it's just a matter of writing them), and the majority of them will be a decent length. I'll be skipping over most of filming (save for the first day). I know, that's why you're reading the story, but the premiere itself is like 3 or so chapters (two long ones, and a really short one to _Seasons of Love_). More drama ensues for both stories, so please read and review!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Andie was thrilled beyond belief that she got to stay in Bohemia. She would go around everywhere with a giant smile on her face, happy and cheerful. Mark was thrilled that Andie was acting like this. She was normally only worried about school, but now that summer was approaching, the load was being lifted from her shoulders. One morning Saturday morning, she was especially cheerful, but things would change by that night. Mark was sitting at the counter, eating lunch, when Andie finally came out of the shower.

"Morning Uncle Mark," she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek. Her wet, blonde hair was in a single French braid down her back.

"What's put you in such a good mood today?" Andie shrugged.

"I dunno. Can't I be in a good mood for my favorite Uncle in the world?" She sat down, and began to dig into a plate of left-over spaghetti.

"How much money?" Andie rolled her eyes.

"Not a lot. Mimi, Maureen, Angel, and I want to go shopping today. Just for the afternoon. I'll be back in time if you all are going to the Life tonight or something."

"You girl, are burning a hole in my wallet. It's a good thing I have a good paying job, and that child support is coming in. We're not going to the Life tonight, but I want you back by 9:00. You've been staying out _way_ too late at nights. I would like you in bed before midnight at least once this week." Andie pouted. Mark was being unfair, but when he handed her $60, she quickly forgot her frustration.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she screeched as she jumped up and down, and threw her arms around Mark. Mark returned the hug, and chuckled.

"For my sanity, don't buy a lot of stuff. Your closet is already running out of room, and I don't know where I'd put any more of you clothes." Andie stuck her tongue out.

"You suck the fun out of life sometimes."

"Then I'll just take back my money."

"No, no, no, that's okay. You're okay I guess." Mark gave her a look. She rolled her eyes. "Fine. You're the best. Happy now?" Mark nodded with a pleased look on his face.

"You bet. Now, go get something nicer on." Andie had pulled the first thing she could grab in her room, which consisted of a solid gray t-shirt, and baggy, plaid, pajama pants.

"Aww…I was thinking of wearing this. Don't you find this fashionable?" Andie strutted up and down the loft, spinning like a model.

"_Very_ fashionable, my dear. It'll be the next biggest hit in Paris. Right now, however, people don't dress like that. So go get some real clothes on."

Andie sighed as she listened to her Uncle…for once in her life. Fifteen minutes later, she appeared back in the kitchen wearing jeans, and a form-fitting green tank top.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" Mark asked, looking up from cutting his latest documentary. Andie shook her head.

"I'll bring a sweatshirt or something." She rummaged around in the closet, and produced an old tattered red sweatshirt that used to be Roger's before he loaned it to her two years ago, and she never gave it back. "See?" she said as she pulled it over her head. Mark rolled his eyes, and went back to his cutting.

"What time are you going?"

"As soon as someone calls here to tell me that they're ready. We'll probably be waiting on Maureen for another hour or two, so I'm stuck here with you." Andie sat down on the couch.

"Just my luck. I wanted to have a party without you, but I can't get you to leave!" Andie smacked her Uncle playfully.

"You wouldn't be able to get anyone to come, because _I'm_ the life of any party you have!"

"You wish, girl!"

An hour and a half later, Angel called, and told Andie that they were ready to go, and that they'd meet her downstairs on the stoop. Andie hung up the phone, gave Mark a hug, and began to climb down the fire escape.

"Why don't you use the main hallway like everyone else does?" Mark called after her.

"It smells weird!" Andie yelled. Mark shrugged, he really couldn't argue with that statement there.

After wandering around the loft aimlessly for nearly an hour, Mark called Roger to see if he wanted to come over and hang out for a few hours. Roger readily agreed, and was over in a matter of seconds.

"Hey man, so all the women have ditched us for the day?" Roger asked as he climbed over the window seat, and into the loft.

"Yeah, all except for Joanne, she had to work today or something. We're not going to the Life today or anything, are we?" Roger shook his head.

"Not that I know of. Why?"  
"I would actually like Andie to be in bed _before_ midnight tonight. I know it's a lot to ask for, but it would be nice."

"Andie's right. You do suck the fun out of life. Why bother going to bed before midnight if you don't have to get up for school the next day?" Mark smacked Roger upside the head. "Hey! I just call them as I see them!"

"I can't help thinking about what kind of life Andie would be living if she had gone to live with Becky."

"She would have gone to a stuck-up all girls' school that kept her away from the guys like me that she'll end up dating no matter what." Mark groaned. "Don't worry, if anything goes wrong with the guy, we can always sic Maureen on them!" Both men laughed. "She would be living like Naomi, the life that the both of them hate."

"True. Very true." Roger and Mark talked all afternoon, and ended up ordering a pizza, and pigging out with Collins.

Around 9:15, they heard singing from the street, and recognized the voices as Andie's, Angel's, Maureen's, and Mimi's.

"Our women are back," Collins said.

"And Maureen," added Mark.

"And Maureen."

"Hey Mark, you remember that first time we all went to the Life? Back after the riot?" asked Roger.

"Yeah. What about it?"  
"I keep remembering all the good times we used to have. We used to get drunk every weekend, and do nothing all day long. Andie came along though, and things changed." Andie, who had been standing out on the fire escape, came inside, hiding her hurt feelings.

"Hey Andie! Have fun shopping?" Mark asked. Andie seemed almost distracted to him, but he couldn't figure out why.

"What? Oh, oh, yeah. I had a pretty good time. I have a really bad headache, so I'm going to go to bed now." She came over, and gave Mark, Roger, and Collins each a hug. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night honey," Mark called as her bedroom door closed. He sighed. "All those good times were fun, but I wouldn't trade Andie in for the world. She's the one that convinced Mimi to go back to school, and whether or not you'll admit it, she's the reason you got a _real_ job, Roger." Roger rolled his eyes. Mark was right, he wouldn't admit it, even though it was true. Roger looked at his watch.

"I should be going," he said. "Mimi wanted to hang out just the two of us tonight." Collins stood up too, saying that he should be going also. Mark was alone, something that he really didn't get to appreciate that much anymore.

Roger and Mimi were having ice cream when Roger noticed a flash of red on their fire escape.

"What is it baby?" Mimi asked.

"I just saw something red on the fire escape. Like a person or something."

"Well, the only people that use the fire escape are you and Andie." Mimi paused to think. "And Andie was wearing red today, so it was probably her."

"But where is she going? She said that she had a really bad headache, and went to bed right when she got home."

"A headache? She never told us. She said that she could go on shopping all night. She must have gotten better already or something." Roger shook his head.

"No, no, something's not right here, I have a feeling that something's not right. I'm going to go talk to Mark.

Mark was sitting on the couch watching the TV Benny had gotten him and Andie for Christmas a few years ago, when he heard a knock on his window. He turned around, and saw Roger standing there, and motioned for him to come in.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Where's Andie?" Roger asked.

"In her room, with a headache. Don't tell me that you've forgotten that. Why? Does Mimi need her or something?"

"No, I saw someone wearing a red sweatshirt climbing down my fire escape. Are you _sure_ she's in her room?"

"Roger, do you doubt me or something? I've been sitting here since you left, channel surfing, and I can tell you that Andie hasn't left her room." Mark stood up. "I'll prove it to you. One second." He went over to Andie's room, and gently knocked on the door. When no one answered, he tried to open the door, but it was locked. Sighing, he slid his hand along the top of the doorframe until he found the key. He unlocked the door, and returned a couple seconds later with a note in his hands. All the color had drained from his face, and he was shaking. He looked at Roger. "Andie, Andie's gone," he said quietly.

**A/N:** And that's where I end my story! Ha! Two more chapters! There's a bit of information that you need to know, but if I tell you, it'll ruin the story, and I'm too lazy to figure out if I can fit it anywhere in this chapter (I realized like 2 seconds ago that I forgot to add it), so yeah. Now's the time when I start asking my readers what they want to read next (story-wise), so here's two choices. 1) _Heavenly Reunions_- title is pretty basic, and explains the story; _Rent_ fic. 2) _Road to Recovery_. Sequel to _Her Story_ (_High School Musical_ fic). More drama to follow Gabi as she recovers from Ian. Let me know what you want to read next! Oh, thanks to all those _wonderful_ reviewers who have been reading _Off-Camera_. If you haven't…WHY? Here are the contest winner(s): AdamsAngel (who got the answer without help), and ickle-s-10 (who had to google the answer!), so they get about 50 of the credit. Until next time…two more chapters left!

Tina101


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

_"Andie, Andie's gone," he said quietly._

Roger looked at Mark in disbelief. He thought that Andie was going to see Maureen or something, not running away. Mark handed Roger the note, his hands shaking. Roger read it over carefully.

_Fine, consider me gone._ Was all that was written on it. No reason, no explanation, just those four simple words.

"I'm calling the police," Mark said, picking up the phone.

"No, Mark, wait. Let us look for her first; I'm sure we can find her faster than the police can. They sit here asking questions for hours on end, wasting time. You call Benny, and Maureen and Joanne; I'll get Mimi, and call Angel and Collins. With all of us looking, we can find her faster."

"What about Julia? Joanne and Maureen can't just leave her alone in the apartment."

"We'll figure it out. Now, come on. We have a Bohemian to find."

Roger bound down the fire escape, not caring how much noise he made. Mimi jumped when he rushed into the apartment.

"Andie's runaway. We need help to find her," he breathed. Mimi stood up in a flash. "I need you to call Collins and Angel. We're meeting back at the loft to figure out where to look for her."

"You aren't going to call the cops?" Roger shook his head.

"Not yet. We want to look for her on our own first, and if we can't find her, then we'll call the police."

"And you're sure that she wasn't abducted or something?"

"_Yes_ Mimi, now please, call Collins and Angel for me!"

In no more than five minutes, the eight Bohemians were gathered in the living room at the loft. Everyone, that is, but Angel and Mimi, who were going through Andie's room, trying to see if she left any other notes behind.

"How could she have gotten out without Mark noticing?" Angel said, almost to himself. He was about to go out and play on the street corners, so he was wearing his jeans, old beat-up t-shirt, and jacket, not drag. Something caught Mimi's eye. It looked like someone had sat on the bed, only it was in the center of the bed, directly under…the skylight! Mimi stood on the bed, under the skylight, as Angel watched her. She jumped up slightly, and grabbed hold of the open skylight (Andie had it open whenever she possibly could). "I guess that answers my question."

"I don't know. Let me see," replied Mimi. Using her amazing upper-body muscles, she hoisted herself up onto the roof. Angel could no longer see what she was doing. Meanwhile, the guys, Joanne, and Maureen were talking in the living room when they heard someone climbing down the fire escape, and saw Mimi standing outside.

"How did you get out there?" Benny asked, confused, just like everyone else.

"She climbed through the skylight in Andie's room, and down off the roof," replied Angel as she came into the room. Mark hung up the phone.

"Naomi says that she doesn't know why Andie would just runaway, but she wants to help. Could someone possibly go pick her up? I don't want her riding the subway alone this late."

"Yeah, I will," Collins offered, as he pulled on his coat.

"Keep an eye out for Andie while you're out. She might be around here still," Joanne said. Collins nodded, and left the loft.

Angel tried to remember if Andie had said anything that was out of the ordinary that day. No one could figure out _why_ someone like Andie would runaway without any reason. Suddenly, he remembered a conversation he and Andie had had just hours before while they were shopping.

_"Do you know how lucky I am that I live so close to the subway?" Andie asked in a teasing voice._

_"Oh yeah, and why is that young lady?" replied Angel as they stood in line to buy a snack from a street vender._

_"Because if I get tired of you guys, I can just pack up my things, and leave…no questions asked. But, I would never want to leave Bohemia. It's my home, and I love it." Angel gave her a hug._

_"I'm glad. We all love Bohemia. You'd have to, or else you'd go insane by those horrible living conditions."_

_"They're not that bad."_

_"You should have seen the loft before you moved in. we used to have parties there all the time, just the eight of us. Now, now, we have to find a new place to party." Andie laughed and shrugged._

_"Hey, you can still party there, I'm not complaining."_

_"No, but I think Mark would from 'exposing you to such horrible thoughts and ideas'," Angel said in a voice that sounded just like Mark's, causing Andie to laugh some more._

_"Like I don't get exposed to those things at the Life?"_

_"Exactly! But, he's your Uncle, and I guess he can be right…sometimes, don't tell him that though."_

_"I won't, promise."_

"I know where Andie is," Angel said, standing up from his seat on the couch. Everyone looked at him. "The subway. We were joking around today, and she said that if she ever got tired of us, she'd use the subway to leave." Mark looked skeptical. It couldn't be that easy, could it?

"Well, then Collins will she her, won't he?" Maureen asked.

"I don't know. He seemed pretty distant when he left, so I'm going to go down to the station too."

Mark said, "We'll look around Alphabet City just in case you're wrong or something." Angel nodded. He knew she was right, but there was still that small chance that he wasn't.

Andie was coming out of the bathroom, when she saw a familiar figure standing on the tracks. Collins. She carefully retreated back to the bathroom, careful not to make any noise. She'd have to wait for the next train. Collins seemed so lost in thought that she figured that he didn't even know she was gone…nobody would probably find out until morning, but by they she'd be gone. She didn't know where she was going, but if her Uncle Mark had a better time without her, then she'd give that to him. Andie checked back every five minutes or so to see if Collins was gone, until he finally_ was_ gone after fifteen minutes. Cautiously, Andie left the bathroom, and sat back down on the bench. She placed her backpack under her seat, and drew her knees up to her chest. She was tired, so she rested her head on her knees.

Angel entered the subway station, looking around carefully. It was pretty empty, because nobody would dare come to Alphabet City at 10:30 at night, they'd get mugged if they didn't live there and were used to it. Angel paid his fare, even though he wasn't going to ride the subway, and went to the tracks below. There, he saw a blonde figure with an old red sweatshirt huddled on a bench. It was Andie, he had been right.

Angel sat down next to her on the bench, but she didn't look up, so he said, "You know, you have everyone really worried about you." Andie looked up, but when she saw it was Angel, went back to her original position.

"Go away!" she exclaimed through tears. Angel placed a hand on her back, but Andie pushed her away. "I said go away!" angel remained calm through the whole thing.

"Not until you tell me why you ran away. If it's a good reason, maybe I'll help, but if it's not, I'll be forced to drag you back to Avenue A."

"Why would you help me? You're only going to take me back to Uncle Mark, who doesn't want me anymore."

"Oh sweetie, what gave you that idea? You mean _everything_ to Mark, what would give you that idea?"

"I heard him, Roger, and Collins talking about how much fun they used to have before I came. I'm just ruining their life, so I left." Angel shook his head.

"Look at me. I want you to look at me." Andie looked at Angel. Her face was blotchy, and streaked with tears. "I want to tell you about my life. What it's like to _really_ not be loved by a family, something you don't know about." Andie listened, even though she was acting like she wasn't. "I always knew I was different, but I couldn't really place it until I was a little older than you. Then I knew that I wasn't just gay, I should have been born a girl. I thought my family would have been supportive of this, but it was quite the opposite. My Mother began to cry, demanding where she went wrong, and my Father began to yell at me. He told me that as long as I lived under his roof, I was to be a normal child. I knew that I couldn't do that though. After about a year, I got a boyfriend. That was it for my parents. My Father kicked me out of the house at the age of sixteen. That's what it feels like to have a family that doesn't love you. To be kicked out because you're different, not getting the support you need. You have an amazing support team, so why don't you come home?" Andie shook her head. Angel grabbed her arm, and tried to pull her to her feet, but she wouldn't budge. "Come on, you're going home."

"You said that you'd help me! You said that you'd let me leave if I really wanted to!" Andie cried out.

"No, no, that's where you're wrong. You're putting words into my mouth. I told you that if I believed that you had a _good_ reason for leaving this all behind, I'd help you. Here's the thing, you don't have a good reason to leave, so I don't care if I have to fling you over my shoulder, and carry you back to Avenue A myself, you're going home!"

"No I'm not! I'm leaving!" Angel crouched down in front of Andie.

"Sweetie, there's nothing for you out there. Trust me, I know. If you leave, there's no turning back from this decision. You're only 14, please come home. Talk to Mark, work things out. Let me tell you, I've never seen him as happy as he is when he's with you. He loved Maureen, and she dumped him, and is now with Joanne. Right after that, he was upset a lot to see the two of them together, but when you came, he had someone to care about too. He was a loner, he didn't date or anything, so he needs you. You've changed Mimi and Roger too! Mimi went back to school all because she saw you all hyped up about school yourself when you first arrived."

"You're making that up!" Angel smiled.

"No, no I'm not. She told me that herself. And Roger, Roger has a job! A real, honest-to-God job! You should be proud of what you've done for us. Now please come home." Andie looked away.

"I can't," she said quietly. Angel took her face in his hands, and turned it to face him.

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid of how Uncle Mark will react. He'll be mad at me for just leaving, and I don't want to face him."

"I can't promise you anything there, Andie, only that I'll talk to him beforehand, and see if he won't yell, and tell him why. Come home now. I'm not asking you anymore, I'm telling you." Reluctantly, Andie stood up. So much for leaving and making everyone happy. Didn't Angel get it? She'd only keep running away if that's what she really wanted. Angel took Andie's bag, and led her out of the subway station towards Alphabet City.

Meanwhile, Mark, Maureen, Roger, Mimi, and Benny were all crowded on Avenue A, trying to figure out where else to look for Andie. They had asked around, and looked in all the shops for the past forty-five minutes that Angel's been gone. Maureen gave Mark a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry, Marky, but there's no where else to look. Maybe you should call your parents, they might know where she is," she said.

"No! If I do that, then they'll bring me to court for child-custody, saying that I can't take care of her. They can't find this out," he replied firmly. Maureen sighed, she hadn't though of that. It was always a constant battle between Mark and his parents and Becky for custody. They would send a letter or call about once a month, saying that those things about Becky weren't true, and that the offer still stood. They were about to go inside, and call the police, when they saw Angel walking down the street…with Andie.

"Oh my God, Andie!" Mark exclaimed as he ran up to his niece, and pulled her into a huge hug. Much to everyone's surprise, Andie struggled out of Mark's reach, and stormed up the fire escape.

Benny asked, "Where was she?"

"Trying to leave on the subway, I don't know to where though."

"Did she tell you why she ran away?" Mark asked. He was clearly confused by Andie's behavior. Angel nodded.

"You should talk to her about it." Mark sighed. So much for a relaxing night and having Andie go to bed early. Angel handed him Andie's bag.

"Thanks Angel."

"Anytime. Now go talk to your niece." Mark nodded, and went inside.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

Andie stormed into the loft, and flew into her room, locking the door behind her. She didn't want to talk to anyone; she didn't want to confront her friends. Mark walked slowly up the stairs, carefully thinking about what he was going to say to Andie, when Angel calling him shattered his thoughts.

"Mark! Mark!" Angel called as he followed him. Mark turned around. "When I was talking to Andie, she said that she didn't want to come back, because she was afraid that you'd yell at her. I know it may seem pretty hard, but please try not to yell at her. It'll only make her want to runaway again." Mark nodded, thanked Angel, and continued mounting the steps that seemed to go on forever.

Andie was sobbing in her room by the time Mark got upstairs. He quietly knocked on the door, and waited for her respond.

"Go away!" she yelled.

"Andie, I want to talk to you."  
"Well, I don't want to talk to you. Go away!" Mark tried to open the door, but found that it was still locked. He ran his hand along the top of the door frame until he found what he was looking for, the key to her room. He stuck the little black stick in the hole in the doorknob, and turned the doorknob gently. Andie immediately sat up when she heard the door open. "I said, 'go away'!" she cried as she flung a pillow at Mark. Mark caught the pillow, and threw it back at Andie.

"Two can play at that game, young lady. Now, tell me what in world you were thinking that made you runaway!" he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Well I do. Don't you get it? If Becky finds out about this, she'll use this as an excuse to take you away from me! Do you want to go live with your sister?"

"Well then maybe you could go back to all the good times you used to have before I came if I left."  
"Is that what this is about? Where did you get an idea that I didn't want you so I could go out and have a good time?"  
"I heard you, Roger, and Collins talking about all the good times you used to have before I came when I got home today, and I felt bad that you couldn't have a good time anymore." Mark pulled Andie into a comforting hug.

"Oh no, sweetie. Sure, we had fun before you came, but now we have even more fun. We're all happy that you're here." Andie looked reluctant to believe her Uncle. After a few seconds, she still didn't know how to reply to his comment.

"I'm really tired," she said. "I think I'll go to bed now." Mark gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"Good idea. Promise you won't run off again?" Andie smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Mark stood up.

"I'll see you in the morning." Andie slipped under the covers without bothering to change out of her clothes.

"Uncle Mark?" Mark stopped.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Mark smiled.

"Love you too. Now go to sleep! I wanted you asleep hours ago!" He turned off the lights, and Andie closed her eyes. She was glad that she didn't runaway.

The Bohemians had gathered in Roger and Mimi's apartment, so Mark joined them there. Mimi had already called Naomi, and told her that they had found Andie, so Collins was on his way home. Joanne was putting Julia to bed, and was going to bed too, since she had to get up early the next morning for work.

"Is she asleep?" Mimi asked. Mark nodded as he sat down next to Angel on the couch.

"Yeah. We talked briefly, but she was really tired, so I let her go to sleep. We'll talk more in the morning I guess."

"And you're sure that she'll stay there all night?" asked Maureen.

"She promised me that she wouldn't run off, so I don't think that she will. She's totally wiped. I can't believe she ran away though."

"Did she tell you why she left? I mean, there _must_ be a reason."

"There is," Mark replied quietly. "She heard me, Roger, and Collins talking about what we used to do before she came, and got the wrong impression. She flipped out before she could hear us talk about how much we love to have her with us."

"So this is all our fault?" Roger said after a couple seconds of silence.

"In a way. But I don't blame you. It's nobody's fault. I keep going back and forth in my mind, should I punish her for running away? It was a misunderstanding, but she _did_ leave."

"As much as I hate to say this Mark, I think you should. She ran away! It'll help get the message through to her that she can't do things like this," Mimi said from her seat on the floor. She was leaning up against Roger's legs and half asleep herself.

"I know, but she's a good kid."

"Ground her for a week or something. It'll be the first time you've even _thought_ about punishing the girl, so it won't take much to get through to her." Mark nodded in agreement. Andie wouldn't be happy with being punished, but he knew that it would stop her from even thinking of leaving again.

Mark came to the conclusion that he could raise a teenager. It would take some work, and a hell of a lot of patience, but he could do it. Plus, he had a support team behind him, sure it consisted of seven Bohemians, but he had a support team behind him. Mark, however, wasn't prepared for Andie's next quest, which is another story.

**A/N:** Short chapter I know, but there WILL be a sequel! First, I will be typing up the sequel to _Her Story_, and after I finish _Off-Camera_, will be writing out (and then typing) _Heavenly Reunions_. Yes, I try to work on two stories at once. Thanks to everyone for the AWESOME reviews! Until next time!

Tina101


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